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Friday, October 9, 2009

Musical Memories

I was inspired this morning after reading DianeDenmark's blog post about her Top 10 favorite concerts. What a fun trip down Memory Lane, so I've decided to follow suit and share my favorite concert memories. Oddly enough, most of them were enjoyed courtesy of my own personal Musical Maven @lauriekeiko! Concerts seem to be a thing of my past, but I certainly don't mind allowing DH to think that I had wild times back in the day :) As with Diane, I'm finding my memory fails me as to when I saw performances, but I think I was at least accurate in identifying the decade of the concert.

1. Duran Duran (199?)

Yes, I'm a Duranie! Always have been, always will. I've seen them more than once, but the concert I'm thinking of happened during my glorious time living in San Francisco. It was the Ordinary World tour and we had tickets to see them at the Concord Pavillion. The day of the show, Laurie managed to score us Orchestra Pit seats. By Orchestra Pit I mean FRONT ROW. I could reach out my hand and actually TOUCH THE STAGE. No barricade or roadies between me & the guys. It was heaven! I spent two hours directly in front of John Taylor -I could've died right then & there perfectly happy :) The only drawback was that there were cameras at the back of the pit filming the stage for the screens broadcasting the show to the peons on the lawn, which meant we couldn't stand up and dance. Oh well, it was worth it!

2. Chris Isaak (199?)

Again, another concert enjoyed with Laurie during our San Francisco days. This was one of a series of unannounced club gigs that Laurie found out about. We were early enough to get positions right at the stage. The highlight of this performance was when Chris used Laurie's head to jump off the stage. He smiled at me, turned around and leaned back into me while he belted out a guitar solo - I was holding him up while he played! Sigh.

3. B-52's (199?)

Another Concord Pavillion event, another gig with Laurie! The B-52's are just plain FUN, especially with the Violent Femmes as the opening act. Note: DH & I happened to see them perform at the same time & place years before we met!

4. Tears for Fears (199?)

Yes, you guessed it -another concert with Laurie :) This time it was a college road trip to Chicago. (Inside joke: the directions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Sowing the Seeds of Love in the Windy City. And Ms. Deborah Harry was a mighty fine opening act indeed!

5. David Bowie (200?)

A concert I attended WITHOUT Laurie! This is one I attended with my sweet DH who likes Bowie very much & kindly didn't notice me drooling throughout the entire concert :)

6. INXS

The loudest concert I've ever been to -my ears rang for days after! A memorable gig because Michael Hutchence (drool) was still alive and Laurie got us backstage to meet the band (double drool).

7. U2 (199?)

It was the Zooropa tour and it was the biggest stage production I have ever seen! It was also the first concert I got in line during the wee hours of the morning for tickets. We were second in line (after those stupid Jerry-Garcia-general-seating-never-sold-out-concert people) and I believe the only ones to get reserved seats for the concert. Good times in Oakland, CA............with Laurie :)

8. Sting (199?)

To be honest, I can't remember if I was with Laurie when I saw him at the Hammersmith Odeon in London (when it was still the Hammersmith Odeon). He was amazing! If it makes you feel better, I saw him again with Laurie in Berkely a few years later.

9. Toad the Wet Sprocket (199?)

We saw these boys 3 or 4 times within a month. Whenever I hear Walk on the Ocean I get a tear in my eye......sigh. (Yes, with Laurie).

10. They Might Be Giants

These boys very kindly gave a free concert on my first day in San Francisco! What a way to be welcomed to the Bay City. And its Istanbul (Not Constantinople).

There were many more memorable concert, and a few more seen without Laurie. Not so many artists come to Iowa these days and with a toddler in the picture, taking road trips to see groups isn't really an option. Oh well, at least I have the memories!

2 comments:

Great post! Hee hee, funny how Sting was a highlight for you and will probably feature in my top 10 of *worst* concerts! I saw him with DH in France in 1995?? and we spent most of the time out in the foyer bar during the (snooze) long guitar solos!! LOL